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Early Vegetation of Wisconsin
This image from the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey shows the early vegetation of Wisconsin. Wisconsin's landscape looked a lot different before European settlement than it does now. You might be wondering how we know this? When Wisconsin was surveyed by the General Land Office in the mid 1800's the crews who marked the corners of townships and ranges recorded information about the vegetation present. Researchers have pieced together what Wisconsin's landscape looked like using that information.
You can see from the image that the Upper Chippewa River Basin is mostly Northern Mesic Forest and Conifer Swamps with some Sedge Meadow and Pine Forest as well. How do you think this original vegetation relates to the watershed we see today?
Sixty-four percent of the Basin was covered with forests in 1996, which represented an increase of over 100,000 acres since 1983. Timberland ownership within the Basin is mixed. Thirty-nine percent of the Basin's timberland is publicly owned (by federal, state, county, and local branches of government). This public land includes the Chequamegon National Forest, the Flambeau River and Northern Highland-American Legion State Forests, numerous state-owned wildlife areas, and school forests. In addition, Rusk, Sawyer, Price, Ashland, and Iron Counties each own and manage timberland within the Basin. The forest products industry owns nine percent within the Basin while three percent is under tribal ownership including the Lac Courte Oreilles and parts of the Lac du Flambeau reservations.
For more information, visit the following site:
The Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey
http://www.uwex.edu/wgnhs/